Straight-line time-stamp.



A. BEYER.

STRAIGHT LINE TIME STAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1911.

n m i W a M A O 5 m w 8 a 1W A. BEYER.

STRAIGHT LINE TIME STAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23,1911.

Patented Feb. 17,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED s'r rns PATENT OFFICE.

ALOIS BEYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STRAIGHT-LINE TIME-STAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Arms BEYER, .a citizen of. the United Statesresiding at Chicago, in the county of dock and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Straight-Llne Time-Stamps, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates in general to the stamps adapted tosimultaneously print the year, month, day, hour and minute, and aims toproduce a device of this character in which the hour and minute printingwheels will be automatically controlled by a clock mechanism and inwhich all of the impressions will be stamped 0r impressed upon the paperor other material employed, in a straight line.

in devices of this general character which have been employed prior tomy invention, it often happens that the hour is not printed in alinementwith the impressions of the other wheels and also that sometimes a par-vtial impression of two adjacent hour characters are made on each side ofthe line of the other impressions.

One of the objects of the present invention is to obviate inaccuraciesof this character by providing mechanism whereby the hour wheel will berectified at each printing operation so that the printing character willbe brought into alinement with the characters on the other printingwheels and the impressions produced by all of the wheels will be in astraight line.

Another object of the invention is the pro vision of a safety devicewhich cooperates with the rectifying device and prevents over running ofthe hour wheel at the end of the hour which might result in printing thewrong hour character if this device were not employed.

Still another object is the provision of an improved device foryieldingly locking the manually controlled printing wheels in printingposition so that the proper pr nting character will be presented at eachprinting operation.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent as it isbetter understood by reference to the following description when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating one preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings-Figure 1 is a my invention, certain partsbeing shown in section; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional longitudinal viewof the mechanism carried in the main frame, the clock proper being shownin elevation; Fig. 3 is a side elevatlon of the exterior of the device.Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sectional elevations taken on the lines 44; 55;6-6 and 77, respec tively, of Fig. 2; and Fig. 8 is a face elevation ofthe printing wheels and driving mechanism therefor, the frame beingshown in sections.

On the drawings, 10 designates the main frame of the stamp upon which ismounted a small clock 11 of ordinary construction. The frame is providedon its front and rear faces with guideways or sockets 12 adapted toreceive the studs 13 secured to, and proecting upwardly from the base 11 which is fastened to the frame on either side thereof by screws 15threaded into the frame and passing through elongated slots 16 in theupturned sides of the frame, whereby rimited reciprocatory movement ofthe frame on the base is permitted. Coil expansion springs 17 aredisposed in the hollow guideways between the inner ends of the studs j13 and the bottom of the sockets to normally and yieldingly support theframe in elevated position as shown in Fig. 1. The rear wall of theframe 10 projects upwardly to form a support to which the clock issecured by bolts or screws 18 and the forward face of this rear wallis'preferably recessed to accommodate a spur wheel 19 fixed on the mainshaft 20 of the clock and the gear wheel 21 rotatabl mounted on the stubshaft 22. A smal er gear wheel 23 is also mounted on the stub shaft 22coaxially with the gear 21, as shown in Fig. 2.

A stub shaft 24k is fixedly secured by a nut 25 to the front wall of theframe 10 and projects inwardly therefrom partially across the chamber orcompartment formed by the frame beneath the clock. The inner end of theshaft is recessed to form a bearing for the inner end of the shaft 26which is journaled at its outer end in the rear wall of the frame. Uponthe shaft 26 near its outer end is fixed a gear wheel 27 meshing withand adapted to be driven by the gear wheel 21 and upon the inner end ofthe shaft there isfixed the minute printing wheel 28 provided withprinting characters as indicated in Fig. 8. A collar 29 is rotatablymounted on the shaft 26 intermediate the gear 27 and the minute wheel 28and upon the outer end of this collar is secured a disk 30 provided withan inwardly projecting pin '31 which passes through a gear wheel 32adapt printing characters. as shown in Fig. 8.

' Upon the outer end of the hub of the printing wheel there is secured anotched disk 34 provided on its periphery with notches, as shown in Fig.5, corresponding in number to the printing characters on the hour Wheel33. A pin 35 projects laterally from the outer face of the disk 34 and asplit-ring spring member 36 surrounding the collar 29 has its endsprojecting radially of the collar and embracing the pins 31 and 35-,toyieldingly connect the hour wheel with the gear wheel 32. It will bemanifest that the hour wheel and the notched disk which is rigidlyconnected therewith will be normally revolved at a constant speed by thegear wheel 32 to which they are fixedly connected, by means of thesplit-ring spring and that this yielding connection will permit limitedmovement of the hour wheel independently of the gear if sufficient forcebe applied to the wheel to overcome the resiliency of the springconnection.

In order that there may be no variation in the angular relation of thehour wheel to the clock mechanism, I have provided improved means forpreventing backlash between the driving gear 23 and the driven gear 32.This mechanism, as shown in Figs.

- 2 and 4, comprises a gear wheel or disk 36 of the same size andprovided with the same number of teeth as the gear 32 and looselymounted upon an outwardly projecting shoulder of the-gear 32, as shownin Fig. 2. The gear 32 and the auxiliary gear 36"are provided with slots37 and 38, respectively, adapted to overlap each other and in each ofthese pairs of slots there is arranged a contraction spring 39 attachedat one end to the gear 32 and at the other end to the auxiliary gear 36,as shown in Fig. 4. It

- will be evident that these springs will tend to rotate the auxiliarygear in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 4, relatively to the gear 32and, that if the auxiliary gear be given a partial turn to place thesprings 39 under tension before these gears are placed in mesh with thedriving gear 23, the tendency of the springs to rotate one of thesegears relatively to the other, will cause the teeth of the driving gear23 to be firmly gripped on each side by the teeth of the driven gear 32and the auxiliary gear 36, so

of speed as the minute'hand on the clock,

while the hour wheel rotates at one-half the speed of the hour hand sothat it will make one complete revolution in twenty-four hours. Theminute wheel is provided with v sixty printin characters and they arelocated so close y to each other on the periphery of the wheel and thewheel revolves so rapidly and the characters change position so quickly,that one printing character will always be in approximate alinement withthe printing characters on the other printing wheels and no rectifyingdevice is consequently necessary to insure the proper position of theminute wheel at the time of the printing operation. The hour wheel,however, rotates at a much lower speed and the printing charactersthereon are spaced much farther apart, consequently it is desirable torectify the position of this wheel at each printing operation to insurethat the proper hour is printed and that it is printed in alinement withthe impressions made by the other printing wheels. In order toaccomplish this result I have provided uponthe base 14, a rectifyingdevice 40 (Figs. 2 and 5), which is made in the form of a stationaryfinger provided with a beveled or sharpened upper end. rectifying deviceis located directly beneath the notched disk 34 so that when the mainframe isdepressed relatively to the base to effect an impression on thepaper beneath the base by the printing wheels, the device will engage inone of the notches on the disk and impart a slight angular adjustingmovement to the hour wheel. The disk 34 and the hour wheel are sodisposed relatively to each other that the base or bottom of each of thenotches on the disk is alined with a printing character on the hourwheel, consequently when'the rectifying device 40 turns the disk byreason of the engagement of its beveled end with the lowermost notch inthe disk, the hour wheel is correspondingly turned or rectified to bringthe proper printing character into lowered or printing position. Thisslight angular adjustment of the hour wheel is permitted by the yieldingconnection between the disk 34 and the gear 32, as has been previouslyexplained and when the disk is raised out of engagement with therectifying device 40 the spring connection will immediately return thehour wheel to its normal position and the various parts are so timedthat the point or outer end of each notch reaches its lowest 1 positionjust after the printing character 59 on the minute wheel has passedrinting position. It will be obvious that by this construction the hourwheel is given a partial turn in one direction'or the other at eachprinting operation, while the minute wheel is making one revolution and,that after the minute wheel starts upon a new revolution the next notchin'the disk is disposed over the rectifying device and during thefollowing hour the next higher printing character on the hour wheel willbe automati'cally alinedat each printing operation. When the frame israised relativelyto the base after its printing operation to release thenotched disk from the rectifying device the hour wheel willbe returnedto its normal position by the spring connection between the disk 34 andthe gear 32. If the mechanism is accurately constructed and adjustedwith precision the operation wheel has completed its revolution byreason of the point of the notch having passed slightly beyond the pointof the rectifying device so that the stamp would print 11:59,

' for instance, instead of 10:59, I have pro disk 44 fixed to the hub ofthe hour wheel 33 and corresponding in size and the number of notches tothe disk 34. From the outer face of the minute wheel 28 there projects apin 45 adapted upon each revolution of the minute wheel to engage withthe long arm 46 of the bell-crank lever 42 and tilt the lever to bringthe end of the arm 43 into engagement with one of the notches as shown.The pin 45 is so positioned 011 the minute wheel that it will actuatethe bell crank lever and elevate the arm 43 into ens gagement with thenotched disk 44 about 10 minutes before the end of the hour and I thislever will hold the disk 44, the hour wheel and the disk 33 againstfurther rotation until the pin 45. has traveled out from under the longarm 46 after printing Upon the fixed stud or stub shaft 24 there i isloosely mountedthe year wheel 47, the

day wheel 48 and the month wheel 49.

These wheels are provided with suitable printing characters and areadjusted manually to bring the proper printing character into-position,In order to lock these wheels against rotation I. have fixed upon thestub shaft 24,adjacent each Wheel, a notched disk 50 which is heldagainst rotation on the shaft by a key 51. Each of these disks isprovided on its periphery with notches corresponding to the printingcharacters on the face of its particular wheel and the wheelsand disksare spaced apart by washers 52 of suitable thickness. Upon the face ofeach of the wheels adjacent the disks 50 I have fixedly mounted a spring53, the free end of which is provided with a V-shaped bend adapted to beengaged in the notches of the disk and yieldingly lock the wheel againstrotation. This yielding lock is sufliciently strong to preventaccidental rotation of the wheel but will permit the wheels to berotated when grasped by. the fingers and turned to adjust the positionof. th'e printing characters. The. base 14, as shown best in Figs. 2 and6, is cut away at 55 to permit the periphery of the printing wheels topass therethrough and engage the paper disposed beneath the-base toeffect the impression thereon. Any well known or preferred type ofinking mechanism may be employed in connection, with the printing wheelsshown and described.

It is believed that the construction, operation and many advantages ofmy invention will be apparent from the foregoing without furtherdescription and it will be obvious that the minute and hour wheels areautomatically operated and regulated so that the proper printingcharacters will be presented at each printing operation and also thatthe year, month and day wheels can be readily adjusted by hand and willbe automatically locked in adjusted position" until further regulationis required.

The device is simple in construction and efficient in its operation,and, while I have shown and described a preferred embodiment thereof, itwill be obvious that various changes in the size, shape, proportion andconstruction of the various parts may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the material advantages of theinvention.

Ielaim:

1. In a time stamp, the combination of a plurality of concentricallymounted printing wheels, continuously operating means for driving saidwheels, a yielding connection between said means and one of said wheels,and means operated from the other wheel for retarding the rotation ofsaid yieldingly connected wheel relatively to the driving means toinsure proper printing position of said Wheel.

2. In a time stamp, the combination of a base, a fraire yieldinglymounted thereon, a

minute printing wheel and an hour printing Wheel rotatably mounted insaid frame, means for rotating said wheels at different speeds, ayielding driving connection between the hour wheel and its rotatingmeans, means for controlling the movement of the hour wheel from theminute wheel, and means operating upon the hour Wheel to insure theproper position of the printing character on the hour wheel at eachprinting operation.

3. In a time stamp, the combination of a frame, a minute wheelrotat-ably mounted therein, an hour wheel mounted therein and normallyrotatable independently of the minute wheel, driving niechanisrn forsaid hour and minute wheels, yielding connections between saiddrivingmechanism and the hour wheel, and a safety device adapted to beactuated by the minute wheel near the end of each hour for retarding themovement of the hour wheel.

4. In a time stamp, the combination of a minute wheel, an hour wheel, aclock mechanism for driving said wheels at a proper relative speed, anda safety device adapted to be actuated by said minute wheel to insurethe proper position of the hour wheel near the end of the hour wherebythe proper hour is printed by the hour wheel.

5. In a time stamp, the combination of a frame, a minute wheel and anhour wheel rotatably mounted therein, clock mechanism for driving saidminute and hour wheels at the proper relative speeds, means forrectifying the position of the hour wheel at each printing operation,and a safety device adapted to'be actuated near the end of the 6. In atime stamp, the combination of a base, a frame yieldingly mountedthereon, a minute wheel and an hour wheel rotatably mounted on saidframe, clock mechanism for driving said Wheels, a yielding connectionbetween said clock mechanism and the hour wheel, a rectifying devicemounted on the base to rectify the position of the hour wheel in itsprinting operation, and a safety device mounted on the frame to retardthe operation of the hour wheel at each revolution of the minute wheelwhereby the proper printing character on the hour wheel will bepresented at the printing operation.

7. In a time stamp, the combination of a printing wheel, continuouslyoperated driving means yieldingly connected therewith, and means forautomatically retarding the movement of said wheel relatively to saiddriving means at predetermined intervals during its rotation.

8. In a time stamp, the combination of a printing wheel, continuouslyoperated driving means yieldingly connected therewith, and means forautomatically causing relative angular movement between said Wheel andthe driving means at predeter- 'mined intervals during each rotation ofsaid wheel to insure the printing of the required impression by saidwheel.

9. In a printing device, the combination of a fraire, a fixed shaftmounted therein, a rotatable shaft mounted coaxially with said fixedshaft, a plurality of printing wheels ro-tat-ably mounted on said fixedshaft, yielding locks for independently locking each of said wheels tosaid shaft, a minute wheel fixed to said rotatable shaft, an hour wheelloosely mounted on said shaft, clock driven means for normally rotatingsaid minute and hour wheels, a rectifying device for rectifying theposition of the hour wheel at each printing operation, and a safetydevice for insuring the printing of a proper character by the hour wheelat the end of each hour.

ALOIS BEYER. Witnesses:

IRA J. WVILsoN, M. ROBERTSON.

